Times of India: Jalandhar: Tuesday, January 30, 2018.
Punjab Police
have ducked queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking
information about the number of persons killed during the days of militancy in
the state and militants killed in encounters between 1978 and 1993. Different
pretexts have been used to deny the information.
The office of
Punjab DGP, to whom the application was sent along with senior superintendents
of police (SSPs), diverted the query to the intelligence wing of the police.
The
intelligence wing further denied the information saying it was out of the
purview of the RTI Act.
The SSPs of
different districts have also denied information on one pretext or the other.
Nawanshahr-based
RTI activist Parvnider Singh Kitna had sought the year-wise information about
number and list of persons killed by militants; militants killed in encounters
with Punjab Police and other security agencies; persons killed in fake
encounters; those who reportedly disappeared during this period; and number of
unidentified bodies found. He had sent applications to the Punjab DGP and SSPs
of around 18 districts in the state. He had mentioned in his application that
this information pertained to period between April 1, 1978, and December 31,
1993.
He also
specifically mentioned the period of April 1, 1978, to May 31, 1984, while
seeking these details.
"I
sought this information as there are no specific details available in the
public domain about the number of people killed during this period even as they
were in thousands. There was huge loss of life during this period but still the
governments have not made available any data and politicians in their rhetoric
have been using different numbers, which just wild guesses. People should know
that how many civilians were killed by militants and how many militants were
killed in encounters or reportedly were made to disappear," Kitna said.
He mentioned
in his application that the information was being sought to bring out the truth
and to use it for building harmony in the society. In his response, the Patiala
SSP said as per the state government's directions, a public information officer
(PIO) was not supposed to provide a solution to the applicant or to answer
"irrelevant questions" and the applicant could not ask that why
something had or had not been done. "A PIO is not bound to answer queries
and is bound to provide only that informant that is part of the record or under
his jurisdiction," the reply mentioned.
The office of
Hoshiarpur SSP stated that record was not available as it was very old and the
information pertained to provoke crime. The SSP Sangrur simply said that the
information was more than 20 years old so it could not be disclosed as provided
by Section 8 of the RTI Act.
The Jalandhar
(Rural) SSP simply diverted the letter to the Jalandhar commissionerate.
The deputy
commissioner of police-cum-PIO stated that information was spread across
different police stations and the latter's named had not been mentioned and
this could not be provided after collecting the details as the RTI Act provided
that only that informant could be provided which would be already available
with the PIO.
Some other
grounds on which the information was denied included, "It has not been
clearly mentioned that what information has been sought; to whom it pertains;
it's in question form and it's like a complaint or application and no specific
information has been sought".
Most of the
SSPs have cited Section 8 of the RTI Act that exempts disclosure of
information, which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of
India, security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state,
relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence; information
that has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or
tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court; and on a
few other grounds.
.JPG)
.JPG)
